COOS BAY — Riverside wanted to play fast in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 3A boys basketball championship Saturday night at Marshfield High School.
That was just fine with Valley Catholic, the highest-scoring team in the state.
After the teams played fairly even for the first three quarters, Valley Catholic’s style of fast won out over Riverside’s as the Valiants beat the Pirates 77-61 to win the state title.
“It’s just crazy,” said Valley Catholic junior Garrett Frank, who played a huge role on both offense and defense in the win. “It was a dream since my freshman year to win state. Now it’s come true. I’m super happy to get it done.”
The Valiants had lost in the semifinals the past two years. They survived an overtime thriller with Cascade Christian to avoid the same fate again this year and then did everything they needed to come out on top Saturday.
“That experience over the past years — we just came back better,” said Valley Catholic senior Cooper Bonnett.
Riverside was in the tournament for the first time since 2007 and trying to win its first championship at the 3A level. The Pirates won the 1980 title as a 1A school, beating Enterprise.
And their all-out, full-court style had carried them into the finals, including their own wild semifinal win over Banks.
“They played their butts off all season,” Riverside coach Cole Ashby said.
For three quarters, that style helped them keep up with Valley Catholic as the teams traded runs and stayed close to each other on the scoreboard.
Valley Catholic led 18-16 through one quarter, 37-34 at the half and 53-49 through three quarters.
But in the fourth, Valley Catholic was able to pull away behind a couple of big plays and a couple of big shots by Michael Mehta.
“Our legs gave out on us,” Ashby said. “They got tired in the fourth quarter. Valley did a great job. They came out and shot real well in the fourth quarter.”
The Valiants also got an unlikely huge contribution from Bonnett, their smallest player on the court.
On Valley Catholic’s first possession of the fourth the Valiants missed a shot and a Riverside player grabbed the rebound. But Bonnett stole the ball and got it to Marcus Mueller for a hoop.
Jesus Pena hit one of his five 3-pointers for Riverside to pull the Pirates back within three but Bonnett hit Frank in stride running to the basket on the other end for what became a three-point play restoring the six-point lead.
A short time later the Valiants missed another shot and Bonnett again stole the rebound, giving Valley Catholic another possession that eventually led to a goaltending call on a shot by Mehta.
“I’m a little guard,” Bonnett said. “I see them not looking at me. I just go get a jump ball (or a steal). Being able to steal possessions (is big).”
Pena hit another 3-pointer for Riverside, but then Mehta came up with consecutive 3-pointers and Hank Lomber hit another and Valley Catholic was in control the rest of the way.
Mehta also had a huge 3-pointer early in overtime in Valley Catholic’s semifinal win.
“He’s amazing,” Frank said. “I know he’s one of the best shooters in the state. I love when I can pass it to him.”
Lomber’s 3-pointer gave Valley Catholic a 69-55 lead and the Pirates weren’t able to come back.
Soon Valley Catholic was celebrating.
“Our team showed up in the biggest game and played one of our best games of the season,” Mehta said. “I think we stuck to the game plan. We didn’t stray from it.”
That included not panicking under Riverside’s pressure.
“We held our composure all the way through the game,” Mehta said.
And it included keeping the pace high.
“Run, run, run — it works,” Mehta said.
“We just didn’t panic,” added Valley Catholic coach Bryan Fraser. “We stayed true to ourselves. We came out and ran every chance we could.”
Valley Catholic also got a huge defensive effort from Frank against Cooper Cemore, Riverside’s stellar junior who became the school’s all-time leading scorer during the tournament.
“When there’s a big matchup, he’s not afraid to take it,” Fraser said of Frank.
Cemore did finish with 19 points, but shot just 6-for-15 from the floor under pressure from Frank.
“That was my assignment,” Frank said. “I wanted to do anything to win, even if it wasn’t scoring.”
Frank did a lot of that, too.
He finished with 21 points, including shooting 11-for-12 from the foul line.
Mehta scored 22, including four 3-pointers, and Lomber hit two 3-pointers and had 19 points while also grabbing 11 rebounds. Mueller also was huge rebounding for the Valiants with nine boards, while Bonnett had nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
“Down the stretch, rebounding was crucial,” Fraser said.
Lomber and Frank both are juniors and will be hoping to make it back to the state tournament next year, when Valley Catholic moves up to 4A.
“I’ve got five or six kids who are going to come back,” Fraser said, referring to other reserves who didn’t see as much time. “It’s my first offseason to instill what I really want to do.”
Riverside, meanwhile, will be trying to get back to the Bay Area after reaching the title game this year.
The Pirates graduate starters Pena, Cougar Philippi and Colby Crowell, but Cena and Jeremias Calvillo will be back along with other role players.
And now that they have made it to the tournament, Cemore is hungry for more.
“I want to come back and get it all,” he said.
Even though the Pirates came up short, he was thrilled with their season and their tournament.
“We played amazing,” Cemore said. “It was a crazy run.”
Pena had 15 points on his five 3-pointers for the Pirates and Calvillo scored eight points.
THIRD PLACE
CASCADE CHRISTIAN 64, BANKS 47: The Challengers won the battle of two teams headed to Class 4A in the fall who both suffered devastating semifinal losses a night earlier.
The Challengers have been mainstays in the Bay Area since the tournament was moved to the South Coast. Their hopes of leaving as champions ended with a gut-wrenching loss to Valley Catholic in Friday’s semifinals.
But Cascade Christian responded with a quick start and then a trio of huge 3-pointers from Brady Kleker, one of two seniors on the squad, after Banks had cut the lead to eight points to start the fourth quarter.
“Coach drew up a play, we executed it right, and I knocked it down,” Kleker said. “When I hit that first one, I thought, ‘I’ve got a couple more for you.’”
Cascade Christian coach Brian Morse said Kleker’s shots were huge.
“It was getting a little too close for comfort,” he said.
Like Cascade Christian, Banks was coming off a deflating semifinal loss, theirs to Riverside, and Banks coach Patrick Marlia said Cascade Christian responded better.
“Yesterday, our inexperience showed in the first half,” he said of the Braves, who feature three freshman starters. “Today we came out slow and they punched us in the gut. They wanted it more.”
When Banks settled down and was making a game of it in the second half, he noted “they hit big 3s.”
Klecker had 16 points and fellow senior Deryk Farmer 11 for the Challengers. Hudson Gotzman, the team’s lone junior, added 10 and sophomore Jake Holden nine.
Ryder Powell had 15 points and Fisher King 11 for Banks on Saturday.
Banks starts freshmen Powell, Jalen Janecek and Mason King and juniors Nate Lyda and Fisher King.
“This has been a great experience,” Marlia said. “They will remember it forever.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to get back into this next year and hopefully this experience will pay off.”
Cascade Christian’s roster features eight sophomores and a freshman, and they, too, were getting valuable experience.
For Kleker, the feeling Saturday was one of elation and appreciation.
“I feel amazing,” he said. “This team came a long way.
“We’re disappointed not getting first. But we are brothers. We put our hearts out there.”
FOURTH PLACE
CRESWELL 62, PLEASANT HILL 42: The neighbors and Valley Coast Conference rivals were playing for the fourth time and the Bulldogs won summer bragging rights with a big start in the first quarter and a big push in the second half.
Pleasant Hill won both regular-season meetings and Creswell won the conference tournament final before winning again Saturday.
“We just came out with the confidence to do it this time,” Creswell’s Luke Bailey said. “We were really prepared and ready to go.”
Creswell came out blazing in the first quarter. The Bulldogs got two 3-pointers each by Landon Vaughn and Tanner Frieze and another by Ace Arnold and led by as many as 12 points, 23-11.
Douglas Green pulled Pleasant Hill back within single digits with his own 3-pointer before the end of the quarter and then the Billies got as close as two points down in the second on a bucket by Jacob Neely before Creswell settled for a 30-25 halftime edge.
And in the second half, Creswell pulled away.
Creswell led by 10 through three quarters and Emerson Velarde started the fourth with a 3-pointer that sparked an 11-2 run that effectively decided the contest.
Creswell was strong on defense and rebounding.
When we can hold teams to one shot, we are pretty good.”
For the game, the Bulldogs had a 36-20 rebounding edge. Ace Arnold grabbed 11 boards to go with 13 points and Mason Schartz had nine rebounds.
Creswell also finished 9-for-19 from 3-point range.
“Today was our day,” Creswell coach Jesse Thomas said. “We shot it well early.”
Bailey finished with a game-high 19 points in his final contest for Creswell. Frieze had 11 and Vaughn nine.
Neely had 14 points for Pleasant Hill and Landen Melvin had 11 one day after setting the 3A tournament scoring record with 37 in a consolation semifinal win over St. Mary’s of Medford.
ALL TOURNAMENT
First Team: Landen Melvin, sr, Pleasant Hill (unanimous); Cooper Cemore, jr, Riverside (unanimous); Ryder Powell, fr, Banks; Garrett Frank, jr, Valley Catholic; Deryk Farmer, sr, Cascade Christian.
Second Team: Hank Lomber, jr, Valley Catholic; Andy Alvarez, soph, Cascade Christian; Ace Arnold, sr, Creswell; Fisher King, jr, Banks; Jax North, sr, St. Mary’s.
Sportsmanship: Blanchet Catholic
dorklefin2003@yahoo.com
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